Abu Dhabi’s logistics hub Almarkaz expects to expand next year after its owner Waha Land bagged a Dh426 million financial package.
The subsidiary of investment company Waha Capital signed the deal with Emirates Islamic Bank for the development, the Abu Dhabi-based company said.
The second phase of the Almarkaz project will add 187,000 square metres of warehouse and storage facilities, along with commercial offices and food and beverage outlets, to the completed 90,000 sq metres of the project, which now has only warehouses. It is located in Al Dhafra, near Mussaffah, 25 kilometres south of Abu Dhabi and close to the planned Etihad Rail freight network.
Around 60 per cent of the 1.5 square km first phase, or 90,000 square metres, is fully leased, according to the company.
The new phase will be built in two stages, with the first buildings of the initial 92,500 sq meters phase available for occupancy in June next year. Delivery of the entire phase is expected by the end of next year.
The remainder of the second phase is expected to follow the delivery of the initial stage.
Abu Dhabi’s Ali and Sons Contracting will construct the phase.
“Building on the success of stage one, we are moving ahead with our planned development, which aims to meet the needs of the Abu Dhabi manufacturing and logistics market in addition to SMEs,” said Hazem Saeed Al Nowais, the chief executive of Waha Land. “The ability to raise financing with the given economic backdrop further underscores the strong value proposition of the Waha Land business model.”
Annual rents for warehouses in Mussaffah average between Dh50 and Dh55 per square foot and have held for the past few months despite a slowdown in the economy, according to real estate agencies advertising warehouses for lease on Dubizzle.
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